1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable-type steering device comprising a steering wheel and a gear box which are connected to each other by a flexible cable such as a Bowden wire.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional steering device for a vehicle has a structure such that a lower end of a steering shaft having a steering wheel at an upper end thereof is connected to a gear box and a steering torque input to the steering wheel is transmitted through the steering shaft to a rack and pinion mechanism provided within the gear box.
However, when the steering wheel and the gear box are connected to each other by using the steering shaft, it is difficult to optionally select a relative position of the steering wheel with respect to a position of the gear box so that there are problems in that a design choice is greatly limited and the gear box can not be commonly used for a vehicle having a steering wheel in a right side and for a vehicle having a steering wheel in a left side. Further, since a vibration transmitted to a tire from a road surface and a vibration of an engine are input to the steering wheel through the steering shaft, there is a problem that a minimal sound level within the vehicle cabin and desired comfort level are difficult to achieve due to the vibrations.
Accordingly, cable-type steering device employing a flexible transmitting means such as a Bowden wire has been suggested in place of the conventional steering shaft (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,897).
By applying this structure, it is possible to optionally select a relative position of the steering wheel with respect to a position of the gear box and further vibration of the gear box is not readily transmitted to the steering wheel so that the above described problems are avoided.
In the above mentioned conventional structure, a fixing portion between an end of the wire and a pulley is formed by fixing a pin which is mounted to the end of the wire by casting or caulking to a pin hole formed on the end surface of the pulley. In this structure, when the pulley is rotated so as to unwind the wire, there is a possibility that a tensional force on the wire directly effects the pin so that durability and expected service life of the fixing portion is reduced.